Up to this point, this has been an up-and-down season for the Lakewood BlueClaws. Plagued by inconsistencies, both by pitchers and position players, they entered the week with a record of 15-16. Boosted by five solid starts by their rotation, the BlueClaws managed to eclipse the .500 mark this week, and they certainly hope to stay there for the foreseeable future.
Tuesday saw the BlueClaws finishing off a four-game series against the Lexington Legends. Behind a strong showing from Julian Sampson (6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K), the BlueClaws not only won the game 5-1, but the series. The offensive production came from homeruns from two of the BlueClaws’ more intriguing prospects, Michael Taylor and Dominic Brown, Taylor’s driving in three of the five runs on the night.
After an off-day on Wednesday, the BlueClaws traveled to Kannapolis on Thursday to face the Intimidators in another four-game series. Despite a decent start by Jacob Diekman (5.1 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K), the BlueClaws offense sputtered, producing only five hits and three runs in a 4-3 loss. Matt Rizzotti singled in a run in the first inning and Derrick Mitchell tripled in two more in the third as the BlueClaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to see it squandered by a pair of runs in both the sixth and eighth innings. Mitchell had the best game offensively of any position player, going a perfect 2-2 with a walk. Dominic Brown had a nice outfield assist in the game, and relief pitcher Sergio Escalona took the loss.
Friday’s game against Kannapolis continued the string of solid starts for the BlueClaws, with Chance Chapman (7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K) taking the helm. Chapman’s one run allowed was given up in the first inning on a solo homerun by the Intimidator’s Jim Gallagher. After jumping out to a 3-1 lead off a passed ball in the 6th, a triple from Freddy Galvis in the 7th, and a sac-fly by Rizzotti in the 8th, Chris Kissock was saddled with the blown save after allowing two runs in the 8th. The game would go into extra innings before two runs off the bats of Michael Durant and Derrick Mitchell in the top of the 12th would prove to be enough for the win. Mitchell continued the offensive output from his previous game, going 2-5 with a walk, a run scored and a sac-fly RBI. Joseph Rocchio pitched three scoreless innings for the win.
Saturday night saw the best outing by the BlueClaws staff this week, featuring a two-hit complete game by Drew Naylor. Naylor struck out twelve in his nine innings, allowing only one run and walking one. Michael Taylor broke out in an offensive fury, going 3-5 with an RBI triple in the 1st, and a two-run homerun in the 4th. On the night, Lakewood scored six runs, with two more RBI coming on a double by Joel Naughton and a Durant homerun.
On Sunday, Walter Tejada (5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K) continued the good starting pitching for the BlueClaws. On a night that the BlueClaws clinched the series against the Intimidators, the BlueClaws had an offensive explosion tallying fourteen hits and eleven runs on the night in an 11-2 blowout. Taylor, Durant and Rizzotti all homered, while D’Arby Myers went 3-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Jesus Sanchez, Taylor, Galvis, Brown, Durant, Rizzotti and Myers each had at least one RBI in the winning effort. Travis Mattair had his strongest outing of the week, scoring two runs while going 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base. Moises Melendez pitched 3.1 innings for the three-innings save, with two strikeouts.
On Monday, the BlueClaws began a series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers as their pitching streak came to an end with Julian Sampson (5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 2 K) continuing his maddening inconsistency. Travis Mattair, Freddy Galvis and Joel Naughton each drove in a run in the 2nd inning, as the BlueClaws jumped out to a 3-0 lead. After falling behind 5-3, Derrick Mitchell hit a two-run homerun to tie the score at five. Yen-Feng Lin then allowed a run in the 6th, as did Ben Pfinsgraff in the 8th, the BlueClaws losing 7-5.
League Leaders
– Michael Durant is tied for the SAL lead in homeruns, with 9 on the season
– Michael Taylor (.338 ) is fifth in the SAL in Batting Average
– Taylor (.935) and Durant (.927) are seventh and eighth, respectively, in OPS
– Drew Naylor (.204) is sixth in ERA, tied for first in IP (53), first in K’s with 62 (for the sake of comparison, the next strikeout leader has 51) and third in WHIP
Hot
– Michael Taylor went 7-16 on the week, with 3 HR, a triple, and 8 RBI on the week
– Derrick Mitchell went 6-19, with 5 RBI
Not
– D’Arby Myers went 4-24, with only 1 RBI, 3 BB and 8 K
Notes
– Freddy Galvis has hit safely in five straight games, raising his average to .172. He has seven errors on the year so far.
– The last three games, Travis Mattair has gone 6-13, and has raised his average to .244.
Phuture Phillies 
When is the time to move Naylor and possibly Taylor up to the FSL to see what they can do against stiffer competition?
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When is the time to move Naylor and potentially Taylor up to the FSL to see what they can do against stiffer competition?
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What kind of numbers are you looking for out of Mattair this year to consider this year a success? He started of horrible while adjusting to everything, but has since been playing very well. He is starting to hit the ball, but they seem to be nothing but singles. I think he has 3 doubles, no triples and no long balls. The power should come once he gets used to the pitching, but I figured I would throw the question out there.
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RADAR SCREEN ALERT:
Sorry to raise this issue in the context of this chain, but should we be paying attention to Robert Swindle at Lehigh Valley? He dominated the Eastern League (16 IP, 1 BB, 16K, 1 ER) and, last night, struck out 4 in 2 innings for the Piggies.
I know the team is looking for another lefty option in the major league pen. Is Swindle a via option? I certainly hope so as I’d like to see Outman return to the starting rotation.
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It is unusual for a catcher, Joel Naughton, who gets about 2/3 of the at bats of the every day players to lead the team in doubles with 9.
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Is not Joel Naughton currently leading SAL catchers in snagging runners at 2nd also? His batting has not been bad either but never seems to get much credit.. Lacking HR power this year though is a minus.
I think Naughton should be A+ level soon but he needs more time in Lakewood this year… Tuffy is starting to bat well for Threshers. This is his year to make or break AA.
Naughton is main A+ Catcher 2009 I would think.
Drew Naylor and Micheal Taylor should be playing A+ for sure in 2008… Move them soon and bring up the younger kids once the GCL starts up.
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Excellent report Dan.
On Mattair, I think after his slow start, if he ends up around .275-.280, even if its an empty .280, it has to be considered a success. He’s still very raw, and this is the first time he’s focusing solely on baseball. To be able to hang in full season ball at age 19 is a success.
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Considering that Naylor’s Australian, what would his realistic developmental age be when comparing his progress to say a U.S. draft pick or a Dominican free agent? Instead of 21 going on 22, should we be looking at him the same way we’d look at a 19 year old dominican or a HS draft pick a year or so out of school?
Is there any general consensus on this considering the level of play in Australia when compared to the far more advanced systems in the U.S. and Central America/Carribbean?
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Its really tough to say. I guess I’d say its a 1-2 year learning curve. So, if hes 21 going on 22, its more likely he’s at the same developmentally as a 20 year old born in the US. But thats just a rough guess really. Some guys are more advanced than others.
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i love watching the box scores of this team. some very good prospects here. i just hope we aren’t giving them the home town over-value that we tend to do. i am very guilty of that! my guess is that some of these guys move up after the draft next month. gillick has shown a pattern of moving people up quickly.
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NEPhillliesPhan has a great point..
Development gap between Aussie players and young USA or Japan, DR is for sure about 1-2 years for the average players. Even from the LL Major level up, Aussie players are about 1 year less advanced in skills than USA and Japanese LL teams.
Solid players like Naylor and Naughton are rare from Australia at present.,,, But more will be coming soon…..
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I posted about Mattair in one of the threads from last week: he’s now hitting .341 in May (though slugging only .366 this month, but perhaps that’s due to the transition to wood bats).
Should we be at all concerned for Sampson? I didn’t expect him to light up the Sally league as a raw 19 year old, but you’d hope for better than a 6.27 ERA, right? Sounds like he’s got a good fastball, and he’s inducing groundouts, but the command clearly isn’t there yet. I wonder if it’s due to the lack of polished secondary stuff at this point.
Also, has Dan or anyone managed to catch a few Lakewood games this year? I’m interested to hear some firsthand observations: the glovework of Mattair and Galvis, whether Taylor can handle RF, and whatever else you can pick up from watching that we can’t from reading the box scores.
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As for Myers going on the not list don’t forget that he has speed and speed causes errors which causes your adverage to go down. A lot of the stolen bases are called errors, hitting the ball and running fast to the bases are called errors which causes his adverage to go down. The out field dropping balls, over throwing the ball or fumbling balls due to his fast running causes his adverage to go down and not getting the RBI. A lot of the times he comes in the game in the 8th or 9th inning with one turn while the other players who are older, D’Arby is only 19 have played in the whole game, having a better chance to raise their adverage. And there is never a mention of his excellent gold glove work. his or Freddy Galvis. Why do you never give reports on defense?
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What’s all the hype surrounding Galvis’s defensive wizardry if he’s got 7 errors in 30+ games??? Is it because he gets to so many balls, or does he have a throwing problem?
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Lots of interesting players mentioned here at LKWD.
Glad that MATTAIR has been noticed; he seems to be making a lot more contact now. The power will take another two seasons to get developing., IMO.
SAMPSON is a BIGGIE: 6’5″ 210 plus. His gangly height is sometimes a barrier to getting a consistent throwing groove. Plus making up a good 2nd and 3rd pitch. It could takemost of this season to GROOVE him. Patience.
SWINDLE is a guy worth a look for lefty relief 4 the big club…IF he continues to do well in AAA ball. It matters not that he hasn’t got a 95 MPH FB; the ability to get ’em out is the main thing. Give him another month at AA, and we’ll see.
NAUGHTON is a LEFTY-HITTING catcher…whose hitting has come a long way while awaiting power to develop…and at the same time appears to have an accurate and stroing arm to thorow out would-be base stealers. IMO, he is beginning to look like a somewhat hidden gem beginning to show its sparkle.
Watching these guys plus quite a few others within our Pharms promises good times in Philly for a while in futuro!
Like others,I know it will be time to SEAL THE DEAL with the first 6 picks in the first 3 rounds in the upcoming June draft! Time to unsqeeze the purse!
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Mattair: Lots of upside but still young, great arm, good range. Not much idea at plate, so far getting by on athleticism.
Galvis: He makes very good plays seem easy but lazy on some routine ones. The bat is questionable
Taylor: He looks like a horse in the outfield. Solid arm better bat.
Sampson: right you are PhillyFriar
Not sure whats going on with Diekman, heard in ST he was very good. And Jared Simon, is interesting for righty on righty match ups. Tejeda throws 93 from the left side.
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That Abreu trade just started to look a little better. Jesus Sanchez just hit a 400 ft. home run, according to the Blue Claws play by play. They say this is his first professional home run dating back to his Yankee days in the Dominican. And Feddy Glavis hit an inside the park homer just prior to Jesus going deep.
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No matter how you slice it we got hosed on the Abreu trade.
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have to get to lakewood to see naylor especially. if anyone has seen him can you give me the skinny. the stats i saw above are impressive especially the k to bb ratio which is the most important one at this stage, low a ball. if anyone lives in the area it would be cool to all meet at a sunday game. any responces . also as nepp and i have strongly agreed on the need for a 2nd lefty in the pen up here, phils, whats the scoop on swindell? by the way any relation to greg swindell. lets see if we get to a lakewood game.
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